DENTISTS: Your diagnosis please...?!


Question: DENTISTS: Your diagnosis please...?
***Do not read if you are eating!***

Symptoms:

Previously (7 months ago): Chronic tooth ache (rear molar), swelling around the top of the tooth and a lump protruding out of one side of the gum (i imagine where the bottom of the roots lie)

I went to the dentist and was prescribed a course of antibiotics to treat the swelling and told to return a week or two later (i never did as she said tooth extraction was a possibility and i need my teeth to chew!).

Two days later the lump had grown to the size of a pea before popping (while i was inspecting it in the mirror), and filling literally half my mouth with yellow pus... Over the next week the tooth ceased to hurt as the nerves in the root/tooth had died (as predicted by the dentist).

Presently:

On a day-to-day basis the tooth is fine, however: the last three mornings I have woken with a very pain-full swelling around the tooth- oddly though, the pain and swelling disappears within an hour of being awake... until last night when i was woken at 2:30 in the morning because of the pain...(this is not good when i have lectures/seminars in the morning) also in the last couple of days the lump around the bottom of the tooth has returned, it is not as pronounced, but covers a larger area then before.

Please note: I am a student and money is very tight (-I live in the UK, and here in the South-west of england, state dental care is practically nonexistent), also I take care of my teeth, i brush/floss daily....

Thanks in advance

-Is there any chance the swelling will disappear on it own accord?

Answers:

You have an abscessed molar and the infection will continue to flare up until you have the tooth extracted or root canaled. As long as there is dead nerve tissue within the tooth, antibiotics will not clear up the infection, although it will control its spread. The absence of pain after the nerve in the tooth completely dies is normal. Now you will need to deal with the infection.

DDS



Sounds like it's time to see the dentist and probably have the tooth pulled this time.
Maybe you can find a dentist that will accept a payment plan.
Maybe you could clean their office for a specified amount of time.



I am a dental hygienist and the author of this dental health website: www.gum-disease-cure.com.

You should not ignore infection anywhere in your body. You need to go back to the dentist or find a new one. There is a chance that the tooth can be saved by doing a root canal. If you can't afford that, it would be better to have the tooth removed than to live with chronic infection. It's bad for your health to leave a tooth that is infected in your mouth and not worth the limited (and sometimes painful) chewing function it provides.

Are there dental schools in the area? They can be a good option for low cost dental care.

Shelly

www.gum-disease-cure.com




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